A blog about tabletop hobby and or strategy games, with a side order of electronic turn based goodness here and there. Now with tons of retro gaming content both electronic and tabletop. Also with 20% more self loathing douchebaggery!

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

[Review Corner] Bandai Action Base

Have you ever built a cool model kit or bought a rad toy but due to physics and the like you couldn't make it display as cool as it could be?

Well, if you have some compatible models and toys, the Bandai Action Base is the item for you! Running roughly 10 bucks these bases come in a couple different colors and styles, and are designed for 1/144th scale and 1/100th scale Bandai Gundam model kits. I went with their normal base in white. Because that is all the store I bought it from had.

It comes in this big old plastic bag. The front has a bunch of stuff in Japanese I can't read but is mostly clear as to what it can do.

Flip it over and you see what is in the bag, and some images showing how you connect them to your model robots. (The taint. Its all about the taint.)

Opening the bag you get three sprues, the main octagonal base, and a couple screws/bolts.

The one page of assembly instructions. I was working slowly and watching Peter Capaldi being awesome in his famous role before he became the current Doctor of Gallifrey so it took me a little over an hour. The instructions are generally clear except for one part I looked at incorrectly in the second step for the support beam. Overall though it was a really easy build and being clear the gate marks are nowhere near as noticeable as they would be on any other of this type of base outside of white. Except being clear one doesn't really have to care about sprucing it up with a wash or inking or anything. I guess you COULD though. Or even use a metallic flake spray on the underside of the main base to look darn fancy. I am not sure I would recommend painting the poles though as they do have mechanical bits.

And here we go! All assembled and pretty! I have the default taint connector in place with the extra bits there in case I want to try any other kit or model with it. The main poles can be moved around the holes on the base and the optional square extender piece. With a couple sets you could use these extenders to display really large and heavy models safely, even possibly connecting them up to form battle scenes and whatnot! (Something the Gundam faction logo bases or the GP Base look unable to do. But they have their appeal as well..)

The bends are lightly ratcheted with indents to get a more reliable and sturdy stand and the core pole and the support strut both have locking elements to keep them put once you decide how to put it.

Here is a future blog review in it's 2/3rds or so of the way finished glory on the base. Gundam X Divider, a 1/144 scale model kit of a more recent Bandai High Grade vintage. It stands loud and proud being all Gundamy and such.

A close up of the locking elements. The support strut has a slide and turn groove system while the main pole has a bunch of divots in the inside of it and a lever that will lock into place. Nice! You can also see a bit of a nameplate hiding out behind the support strut.

Raise the base high! Make it low to the ground! Angle it for all sorts of poses!

And we finish up with me showing one of the other connector parts shoved into a mid 90s 1/144 Gundam X kit. It fits in alright but I had to test out all three of them to find the one that fit best and it does have some bending which is kind of a disquieting thing.

But with a little tweaking the possibilities for this nifty little device are endless. At the 12 dollars I paid it is a bit too much but at the 7-9 they tend to run online it becomes almost a no brainer to pick a couple up to display current models. Or even as a tool to help paint them. Or to use in hobby gaming to denote height in a 3D space.

My score: Good.

If you build models you probably want one. If you build Gundam kits you REALLY want it!